Rail anchor



J. L. GRANT RAIL ANCHOR March 24, 1953 r 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed May 7,1949 INVENTOR. 276/62 l f arzi J. L. GRANT Maid; 24, 1953 RAIL ANcHdR 2SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed May 7, 1949 INVENTOR.

(73in BY Patented Mar. 24, 1953 RAIL ANCHOR John L. Grant, Chicago,111., assignor, .by mesne assignments, to Poor a Company, Chicago, 111.,a corporation of Delaware Application May 7, 1949, Serial No. 91,948

2 Claims.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in railanchors.

The invention appertains particularly t rail anchors of the general typewhich, when applied to a railroad rail, grip the base portion of therail and abut against a vertical face of an adjacent crosstie so as toprevent longitudinal creeping movements of the rail.

The usual supporting structure for a railroad rail comprises a woodencrosstie and a metal tie plate interposed between the top surface of thecrosstie and the base portion of the rail. The widths of the tie platesand the crossties may vary so that insorne instances the tie plate maybe of less or greater width than the cross tie. The present invention isdirected to improvements whereby the anchor device may be made from abar having a horizontal flange portion for gripping the rail and anintegrally formed rigidifying portion which extends lengthwise of theanchor and abuts against an adjacent crosstie; the tie abutting portionbeing formed to extend substantially the full length of the under railportion of the anchor and projects laterally beyond the opposite sidesof the rail gripping portion of theanchor, whereby to insure firmcontact against the crosstie when the anchor is applied to a rail in aposition to engage either side of a orosstie.

According to the present invention, the anchor device herein shown ismade from a rolled metal bar preferably substantially T-shape in crosssection so that all of the advantages incident to the use of such asection, are incorporated in the present embodiment of the invention.Preferably, the crosssection is such that the longitudinal web haslaterally extending flanges along both edges thereof with one set ofsaid flanges being of greater width than the other and sufficiently sothat they may be bent downwardly to provide opposite tie abutting faces.The said laterally extending flanges are cut away 'fromone end of thebar which is then bent into hook form to provide sur faces which engagethe upper and lower surfaces of one base flange of the rail The otherendof the bar is offset to provide a locking shoulder arranged to gripthe opposite edge of the rail base when the anchor is driventransversely of the rail to its applied position.

It is therefore a specific object oi 'mypresent invention to provide animproved rail anchor device having the constructions and providing theadvantages above described.

A preferred embodiment of the rail anchor, constructed in accordancewith the present invention;

, 2 is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. v1 is a plan View showing the base portion of a railroad railsupported on a tie plate and an underlying crosstie, and showing a railanchor constructed in accordance with this invention applied to the baseportion of the rail in a position to bear against a vertical face of thecrosstie.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view through the base portion of the railand. showing in elevation the improved rail anchor device applied tosaid base portion.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the rail anchor device shown in Figs. 1 and 2and illustrating its tie abutting portion engagin an adjacent crosstie.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a blank from which the device shown in thepreceding figures is formed, and indicating by certain broken line theportions thereof to be severed from the blank.

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the blank with certain portions severedtherefrom,

Fig. 6 is a plan view showing the flanges bent downwardly.

Fig. '7 is an end .elevational view of Fig. 5, and showing in dottedlines the manner in which the lateral flanges are bent downwardly.

. Fig. 8 is an end clevational view of Fig. 6.

Referring to Figs. 1-3 of the drawings. the numeral it designates thebase portion of a rai1- road rail supported on a conventional metal tieplate H secured, as by driven spikes I 2, to the top surface of acrosstie it. As shown herein, the tie plate H is of a widthcorresponding to the width of the crosstie !3. However, this relativewidth may vary so that in some cases the tie plate may be of greater orlesser width than the crosstie.

The rail anchor device of my invention indicated generally by thenumeral it is formed of a bar of substantially T-shape cross section(Figs. 4 and. '7) having upper and lower laterally extending flanges 56and ii respectively, and a connecting web 98, thelower flanges being ofconsiderably greater width than said upper flanges. The saidanchordevice extends acros beneath the rail flanges l9 and 2-! andengages the bottom surfaces thereof. Portions 23-48 of the lower lateralflanges tl-ll are cut away from one end of the bar (see Fig. 4) and thesaid end is bent into hooli form to provide an upper jaw 22 of invertedT-shapeior engaging the inclined upper surface of the rail flange IS anda lower jaw 23 for engaging the bottom surface of the said rail flangenear the longitudinaledge thereof. The opposite end of the bar also hasportion of the lower lateral flanges I! cut away, and portions of theupper flange I6 opposite thereto are offset upwardly, as indicated at24, to provide a locking shoulder which engages over the vertical edgeof the rail flange 2| when the anchor is in its operative position.

The upper lateral flanges 16 are of sufficient width so that the upperand lower jaws 22 and 23 respectively, of the hook portion and bodyportion engaging the under surface of the rail flanges l9 and 21 willresist all torsional stresses when the tie engaging portion, hereinafterto be described, is pressed against the face of an adja cent crosstie,or is held by the track ballast against retrograde movement. As will beobserved the hook portion is of inverted T-shape in cross sectionthroughout its length. Such a section provides a structure of verysubstantial rigidity suflicient to provide a firm grip on the railflange, but is sufliciently resilient to compensate for variations inthe cross sectional dimensions of such rail flanges.

The lower lateral flanges I! of the bar are bent downwardly to form inefiect a longitudinal channel providing two parallel spaced tie abuttingfaces 25 symmetrically arranged and offset relative to the plane of thelongitudinal web [8. As will be seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the tie abuttingfaces 26 extend substantially across the width of the rail base andproject laterally beyond the planes of the vertical sides of the upperlateral flanges IE, it.

In applying the anchor device 19 to a railroad rail, the hook portion ofthe said device is hooked over one flange such as I9 of the rail baseand is driven transversely of the rail base until the locking shoulder20 snaps up into engagement with an opposite vertical edge of the railbase Ill. The anchor device is applied to a rail at a point proximate toa crosstie so that one of the tie abutting faces 2s of the device willbear firmly against a vertical face 27 of the crosstie. Since the tieabutting faces 26 project beyond the side edges of the upper lateralflanges 16, the anchor will bear against a vertical face of the crosstieeven though the tie plate I I may project a slight distance beyond thecorresponding adjacent vertical face of the said tie. It will be clearlyapparent that because of the provision of two symmetrically arranged tieabutting faces 26 the device may be used on both right and left rails ofthe track in any desired position, that is, either in front of or inback of a crosstie.

Figs. 4 to 8, inclusive, illustrate a preferred form of blank from whichthe anchor device may be formed. The blank comprises a bar formed withsaid upper and lower flanges I6, I1 and with a vertical web 18. Portions28 and 29 are cut away from the flanges ll to form the structure shownin Fig. 5. Thereafter, the lower lateral flanges IT are bent downwardlyfrom the full line position to the dotted line position of Fig. 7 toprovide the structure shown in Figs. 6 and. 8 in which the said flangesprovide the opposed tie abutting faces 20 of the completed anchor. Theend of the bar from which the portions 28, 28 are severed is bent intohook form to provide the upper jaw'22 of the anchor.

I claim:

1. A rail anchor comprising a bar including an under-rail body portionbent at one end into hook form to provide upper and lower jaws forgripping the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of one base flangeof a railroad rail and formed at the other end with means for engagingthe other base flange of the rail to lock the anchor in its appliedposition on the rail, the said bar including a horizontally disposedportion extending from end to end of the bar and providing a platformfor engaging the bottom of the rail and also extending around the innersurface of said hook to provide a surface, corresponding in width tosaid platform, for gripping the top surface of the first mentioned baseflange, a centrally disposed vertical web depending from said platformand extending from end to end of the bar, a portion of said webproviding reinforcement for said bend and said upper jaw of the anchor;said bar being formed also with flanges which stop short of the oppositeends of the bar and project outwardly and downwardly from opposite sidesof said web to provide flat vertical faces positioned outwardly from theside faces of said platform, either of said flat vertical faces beingadapted to abut a side face of a crosstie.

2. A rail anchor comprising a bar including an under-rail body portionbent at one end into hook form to provide upper and lower jaws forgripping the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of one base flangeof a railroad rail and formed at the other end with means for engagingthe other base flange of the rail to lock the anchor in its appliedposition on the rail, the said bar including a horizontally disposedportion extending from end to end of the bar and providing a platformfor engaging the bottom of the rail and also extending around the innersurface of said hook to provide a surface, corresponding in width tosaid platform, for gripping the top surface of the first mentioned baseflange, a centrally disposed vertical web depending from said platformand extending from end to end of the bar, a portion of said webproviding reinforcement for said bend and said upper jaw of the anchor;said bar being formed along the outer edge of said vertical web withflanges which stop short of the opposite ends of the bar and whichproject outwardly and downwardly from opposite sides of said web toprovide flat vertical faces which project outwardly beyond the sidefaces of said platform, either of said flat vertical faces being adaptedto abut against a side face of a crosstie.

JOHN L. GRANT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,734,008 Frehse Oct. 29, 19291,748,294 Kadel Feb. 25, 1930 1,922,814 MacLean Aug. 15, 1933 2,206,307Schneider July 2, 1940 2,210,062 Campbell Aug. 6, 1940 2,244,755 WarrJune 10, 1941 2,268,327 Thomann Dec. 30, 1941 2,360,004 MacLean, Jr Oct.10, 1944 2,373,923 Thomann et a1 Apr. 17, 1945 2,473,345 Preston June14, 1949 2,511,062 Hyle et al June 13, 1950

